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Tryon: Vision, diligence and an ample water supply

Published: Sunday, March 10, 2013 at 1:00 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, March 8, 2013 at 7:02 p.m.

The only thing worse than being up a creek with no paddle is being dependent on a river with no water.

Charlotte County, which has depended on the Peace River for decades, would be in a water crisis if not for a long-term project that dramatically changed the way our entire region uses and manages a vital natural resource.

Today the flow of the Peace River is so low that withdrawals cannot be made. In fact, there have been no withdrawals from the Peace in our region since Jan. 28.

The Peace and other rivers, known as surface waters, typically experience significantly reduced flows before and after the rainy season (June through early October). Yet the use of potable water rises during the dry season, due to higher population counts and lower rainfall levels, creating an imbalance between stressed supplies and higher demands.

For instance, in January, Charlotte County needed an average of 25 million gallons of water per day to satisfy household and commercial demands. Yet an average of only 16 million gallons could be withdrawn daily from the Peace River, which supplies virtually all of the potable water purchased from public supplies in Charlotte.

The city of North Port, which obtains about two-thirds of its potable supplies from the Peace River, would have been in similarly dire straits.

The imbalance would have gone from bad to worse in February and this month, because the regional water authority stopped pumping from the Peace.

That's right, not a single gallon withdrawn -- the same scenario that occurred in 2012 between January and May.

Saving during rainy days

So, how have Charlotte, North Port and other governments -- including Sarasota County, which now buys about two-thirds of its supply from the Peace River, reducing its historical reliance on Manatee County -- been able to keep water flowing to residences and businesses despite drier than normal conditions?

They are part of a regional system that saved during rainy days.

What's more, local governments and their utilities in the four-county region have built hundreds of miles of pipelines, building connections that allow water to be moved in cost-effective, environmentally responsible ways throughout the region.

This system has been created under the auspices of the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority, which is controlled by a four-member board with one representative each from Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties.

During the 1980s, the formative years of the authority, Franz Ross -- then a Charlotte commissioner -- articulated his vision of a system featuring pipeline connections among local utilities. (Ross died before his idea came to fruition but, today, utility systems are linked from Manatee County all the way south to Punta Gorda.)

In the early 1990s, the authority purchased a small, deteriorated water-treatment plant from the now-defunct General Development Corp. The plant served mainly Charlotte customers but was located in DeSoto.

I was at the first meeting during which Ed Chance, then a Manatee County commissioner, proposed to state water managers that the authority purchase the General Development plant and pursue storage strategies to help make the region drought-proof.

Today, thanks in part to the steady performance of Pat Lehman, the longtime executive director, the regional authority has more than 8 billion gallons -- yes, billion with a "b" -- in storage, a supply that could last 200 days, even if it's not replenished.

That water is stored in a 6-billion-gallon reservoir and two wells -- all of which were constructed by the authority.

River withdrawals limited

The reservoir and wells enable the authority to store water "harvested" from the Peace River during the rainy season, when flows spike at their highest levels, often flowing over its banks.

Even when water is plentiful, the withdrawals cannot exceed 10 percent of total flow, an amount determined through extensive scientific studies; usually, the withdrawals are about 3 percent to 4 percent of flow.

When the Peace is close to running dry, the authority turns first to the reservoir. (Chance died before the giant lake was completed, but he made the greatest single political contribution to the system in place today.)

Fortunately, a number of public officials -- including Charles Black, a former chairman of the Southwest Florida Water Management District -- believed in the regional approach. And because the authority worked through its challenges, instead of putting them off, the Peace River project benefited from funding once available through the water-management district, and state, federal and local governments.

As a result, there have been no water shortages in our region, despite below-average rainfall.

There have been no water wars between local governments. Local economies, finally on the rebound, have not been disrupted by draconian water-use limits or construction moratoriums.

Best of all, water managers have not had to increase their reliance on stressed aquifers -- or make the no-win choice between protecting the environment or excessively draining surface waters.

These positive conditions did not materialize out of thin air. They are the results of an extraordinary vision and diligence.

<p>The only thing worse than being up a creek with no paddle is being dependent on a river with no water.</p><p>Charlotte County, which has depended on the Peace River for decades, would be in a water crisis if not for a long-term project that dramatically changed the way our entire region uses and manages a vital natural resource.</p><p>Today the flow of the Peace River is so low that withdrawals cannot be made. In fact, there have been no withdrawals from the Peace in our region since Jan. 28.</p><p>The Peace and other rivers, known as surface waters, typically experience significantly reduced flows before and after the rainy season (June through early October). Yet the use of potable water rises during the dry season, due to higher population counts and lower rainfall levels, creating an imbalance between stressed supplies and higher demands.</p><p>For instance, in January, Charlotte County needed an average of 25 million gallons of water per day to satisfy household and commercial demands. Yet an average of only 16 million gallons could be withdrawn daily from the Peace River, which supplies virtually all of the potable water purchased from public supplies in Charlotte.</p><p>The city of North Port, which obtains about two-thirds of its potable supplies from the Peace River, would have been in similarly dire straits.</p><p>The imbalance would have gone from bad to worse in February and this month, because the regional water authority stopped pumping from the Peace.</p><p>That's right, not a single gallon withdrawn -- the same scenario that occurred in 2012 between January and May.</p><p>Saving during rainy days</p><p>So, how have Charlotte, North Port and other governments -- including Sarasota County, which now buys about two-thirds of its supply from the Peace River, reducing its historical reliance on Manatee County -- been able to keep water flowing to residences and businesses despite drier than normal conditions?</p><p>They are part of a regional system that saved during rainy days.</p><p>What's more, local governments and their utilities in the four-county region have built hundreds of miles of pipelines, building connections that allow water to be moved in cost-effective, environmentally responsible ways throughout the region.</p><p>This system has been created under the auspices of the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority, which is controlled by a four-member board with one representative each from Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties.</p><p>During the 1980s, the formative years of the authority, Franz Ross -- then a Charlotte commissioner -- articulated his vision of a system featuring pipeline connections among local utilities. (Ross died before his idea came to fruition but, today, utility systems are linked from Manatee County all the way south to Punta Gorda.)</p><p>In the early 1990s, the authority purchased a small, deteriorated water-treatment plant from the now-defunct General Development Corp. The plant served mainly Charlotte customers but was located in DeSoto.</p><p>I was at the first meeting during which Ed Chance, then a Manatee County commissioner, proposed to state water managers that the authority purchase the General Development plant and pursue storage strategies to help make the region drought-proof.</p><p>Today, thanks in part to the steady performance of Pat Lehman, the longtime executive director, the regional authority has more than 8 billion gallons -- yes, billion with a "b" -- in storage, a supply that could last 200 days, even if it's not replenished.</p><p>That water is stored in a 6-billion-gallon reservoir and two wells -- all of which were constructed by the authority.</p><p>River withdrawals limited</p><p>The reservoir and wells enable the authority to store water "harvested" from the Peace River during the rainy season, when flows spike at their highest levels, often flowing over its banks.</p><p>Even when water is plentiful, the withdrawals cannot exceed 10 percent of total flow, an amount determined through extensive scientific studies; usually, the withdrawals are about 3 percent to 4 percent of flow.</p><p>When the Peace is close to running dry, the authority turns first to the reservoir. (Chance died before the giant lake was completed, but he made the greatest single political contribution to the system in place today.)</p><p>Fortunately, a number of public officials -- including Charles Black, a former chairman of the Southwest Florida Water Management District -- believed in the regional approach. And because the authority worked through its challenges, instead of putting them off, the Peace River project benefited from funding once available through the water-management district, and state, federal and local governments.</p><p>As a result, there have been no water shortages in our region, despite below-average rainfall.</p><p>There have been no water wars between local governments. Local economies, finally on the rebound, have not been disrupted by draconian water-use limits or construction moratoriums.</p><p>Best of all, water managers have not had to increase their reliance on stressed aquifers -- or make the no-win choice between protecting the environment or excessively draining surface waters.</p><p>These positive conditions did not materialize out of thin air. They are the results of an extraordinary vision and diligence.</p><p>Tom Tryon is opinion editor. Tom.Tryon@heraldtribune.com</p>